For years during the Berlusconi era, Milan have enjoyed the
view from the top – finishing at or near the top of the table, and winning the
Champions League trophy five times. But if you switch your focus to the top of
the organization, it shouldn’t be hard to see how we got where we are today. Or
why the view from the top of Milan’s management has become so clouded by financial
concerns and mismanagement that we can no longer see a bright future.
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| Champagne football without the champagne or the glasses... |
Many hold Berlusconi in high esteem, as he rescued the club
from bankruptcy, injected massive amounts of cash, and funded the teams that
won so many trophies. And it’s true, we as fans should be so very grateful for
his benevolence. But not many realize the self-destructive issues that have increasingly
caused problems at the club since he purchased it. Like when he fired the very
successful Arrigo Sacchi because Van Basten didn’t get along with him (and Van
Basten, though brilliant, spent much of his time at Milan injured.) Or his lust
for more strikers – always more strikers – is almost as well known as his
penchant for underage women. And that penchant for underage women has cost him
millions in legal fees and about €3m per
month in alimony to his most recently divorced wife. Sure, it’s his life,
his money. But is there really no correlation between his losses from his other
companies and his personal life and the lack of spending on Milan? Because on a
timeline, they correlate perfectly, and Milan has come up empty-handed.
While Berlusconi has always meddled in the affairs of Milan,
always given us epic sound bytes that would make even the most casual fan
facepalm, it may be his trusty sidekick, Galliani, who has actually done more
damage. Widely known as a transfer “guru,” and king of the free transfers, he
is also incredibly talented at negotiating wages the club can’t afford, or
contracts that outlast the players’ careers. His deals with buddy Enrico
Preziosi are very questionable, and even the newest fan could see beforehand
what an epic fail the Matri transfer would be. He let the Senatori stay into
their retirement years, and then sent them packing all at once, leaving a
massive void in talent, experience, and the dressing room. He is unapologetic,
and in recent years become down right insulting to the fans, certain players,
and anyone who questions his autocratic leadership and transfer matters. Like
when a massive blunder was made such as selling Ibra and Thiago Silva, he said
repeatedly that the fans needed to be grateful instead of even attempting some
type of apology for his signing of
and wage agreements of the players that were not sustainable.
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| "She's onto us. How are we gonna frame it now?" |
But it’s not just his transfer policies, his penchant for
bringing old and washed up players to Milan “on a free” with not-so-free wages
that made our wage bill, even after making a lot of cuts, second only to
Juventus in Serie A. (with a team that is hardly competing for second.) He’s
been accused of shady dealings by other clubs, and it was evidence of his wrongdoings that saw Milan docked 15
points for the 2006-07 season in the Calciopoli scandal, and nearly miss out on
the Champions League that season (which we ended up winning after being allowed
to compete.) Recently, Maldini accused him of feeling omnipotent, and it’s
true, whatever he wants, Galliani seems to get. Conversely, whatever he doesn’t
want, he doesn’t get, like hiring club legend Paolo Maldini for any job at all at Milan, something
pretty much every fan definitely wants to see.
Enter Barbara Berlusconi. Her father wants to keep the club
in the family, so he brings her onto the board three years ago, having sat on
the board of Fininvest for eight years prior to that. It didn’t take her long
to figure out that there were some shady dealings going on, which she made the
mistake of questioning, creating a bigger rift between her and Galliani. And
she personally protested the sale of Thiago Silva with a six page report
explaining why it was such a bad idea. But no one listened. Finally, in
November, when results were terrible and who knows what was going on behind the
closed doors of the Milan boardroom and Galliani threatening to resign, she was
promoted to joint-CEO with Galliani. Which was impressive for someone who had
less than three years’ experience in the football industry, but also quite
telling of the level of excrement happening at the top of the club. Waiting
until Milan’s proverbial ship was sunk to make a coaching change was just one more
example of how much management’s follies are affecting the club.
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| Great ideas + little experience = not much power |
Maybe in 1986, when Berlusconi bought the club, things
seemed rosy. Or with Sacchi’s, Capello’s and even Ancelottti’s Milan teams, you
could ignore the destructive behaviors of the president and vice president
because of the successes that their douchebaggery (and lots of cash spent)
created. But years of mismanagement have finally lead us to this point, where the
foundations of this great club are finally visible with all of their cracks and
flaws and band-aid purchases over the years having eroded away nearly all of
the greatness. It may be the club that Berlusconi built, but it is also the
club that Berlusconi built. Meaning it is not a club with a transfer strategy,
a plan, a project, or anything but a
win-at-all-costs-until-you-run-out-of-money-then-pass-the-buck mentality. Fans
have been encouraged by the ideas and transparency of Barbara Berlusconi, but
she hasn’t been given any real power that affects the team, the results, or the
fans. So while the club has enjoyed a long time with a view from the top, it’s
going to take a lot more than two CEO’s and an inexperienced coach to keep it
from crashing to the bottom.
This post inspired by the music of
NIN
Our next match is
Genoa vs. Milan
Monday, April 7 • 20:45 CEST (2:45 EDT)